.There is a new Army chief in Pakistan and some  changes in the offing  .But  for a  nation  that had been looking inward for close to three decades now,these changes would perhaps remain peripheral and synthetic.With its democracy held in leash by its army for most of its post partition existence, its every single institution  systematically de-rooted and reduced to bonsai, there has been not one event that can point to any simmering embers of  a popular move to pragmatism and progress. Rip Van Winkle must be feeling envious . Pakistan 's foreign policy does not extend beyond its borders . Its ideology is circumscribed by its tenuous relations with India and its economy dependent on big power largess.The Arabs can at least boast of a " spring " but Pakistan remains bound by its deep ethnic hierarchy and divisions.Pakistan has long been  led on a day -to-day basis by circumstances and very seldom by its leaders. Only a major internal upheaval ,for whatever reason,will make the nation sit up , introspect and radically change. Till then Pakistan will be confined to a make believe world of its own ,acquiring a fresh set of PMs,Army Chiefs et al from time to time

Published Pioneer Dec 2
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